


Claws

by GasolineGhuleh



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Boating, F/M, Horror, Other, Sharks, Violence, horror parodies, kissy and possy's scary stories to tell in the abbey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GasolineGhuleh/pseuds/GasolineGhuleh
Summary: Good evening Ghouls and Ghulehs! One of the Twins of Sin here to introduce my first offering to the horror Gods.Possy presenting here, a tale true to shiver you to the bone. Cold waters lap at the boat of the Ghouls and their Cardinal, as a wonderful day off in the sun begins with some fun. A day of play in the murky waters of the bay, but can our intrepid heroes survive when trouble begins to bump at their boat?Can you spare a life preserver?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23
Collections: Scary Stories To Tell In The Abbey





	Claws

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains mention of sharks, deep water, ocean, raw meat, beer, and drowning.

The sun is shining bright above the harbor as the Cardinal and his Ghouls board their chosen vessel for the day, _The Porpoise_. All of them are wearing smiles fit to counter the sun in radiance, tails swishing happily as the water laps and pulls at the boat. Swiss and Aether carry a large cooler between the two of them laden with raw meats for the Ghouls, with another cooler on top of that filled with beer for the Cardinal. Behind them, the Ghoulettes chitter away happily between themselves, comparing bathing suits and discussing the logistics of tails and bikinis. 

“Save me a steak, I’m starvin’!” Dew calls from the back of the line, bouncing on his toes to see the boat better. Rain and Mountain share a pointed look, both silently agreeing to eat first thing. Dew has a penchant for taking “last bites”, as it’s well known throughout their pack. 

“Yeah, yeah!” Swiss yells back to him, depositing he and Aether’s load beside the cabin of the ship. Mountain takes one of the steaks sneakily offered to him by Swiss as he passes the two on his way to the Captain’s room. Of the group, he’s the only one with a boating license and offered to take them out so the Clergy didn’t have to pay a Captain. 

Soon enough the rumble of the boat engine sounds and a cheer goes up amongst the Ghouls as they lounge on the couches at the aft of the boat. Copia cracks open a beer and takes a sandwich from the smaller cooler meant for him, kicking his feet up on the small coffee table between the couches. It was a nice day, with a cool breeze that was a welcome respite from the hot sun. 

“Gonna do any swimming, boss?” Dew asks, throwing himself beside Copia with a raw steak in each hand. He bites into them ruthlessly and Copia feels himself going a bit green, and not just from the motion of the boat. It’ll be some years before he’s used to his Ghouls and their diets.

“No. No, I don’t think so. I’m not one for swimming, ehehe.” He pats his tummy with the bottom of the beer bottle, the condensation leaving a small mark on his shirt. “I would only sink.” Cirrus snorts out a laugh as Cumulus elbows her in the side sharply. Aether has the decency to cover his own laugh with a cough as he looks over the side of the boat at the passing waters.

“Ah, I’m sure you float fine, boss.” Swiss raises his drink towards Copia, briefly toasting him before knocking back half of the bottle. He puts a hand to his chest and pounds it twice, burping loudly. Aether’s tail whips out quickly from the side and slaps Swiss on the hand, even at the Ghoul continues to lean against the railing, seemingly disinterested in the conversation as a whole. 

“Jesus CHRIST!” Rain shouts from the Captain’s room, where he’s dutifully keeping his partner in rhythm company. The two had retired there almost immediately upon arriving on the vessel, and seemed to be doing a good job at navigating them out to the deeper waters. 

“Hey, hey, none of that. No cursing today, eh?” Copia furrows his brow at Swiss briefly before smiling, affection for his Ghoul taking over the small annoyance. “I believe we’re far enough out, if anyone would like to be swimming.” 

“Fuck that shit, Fire Ghouls have no use for water.” Dew sticks his tongue out, his tail rail rod straight at the thought. 

“We know,” Cirrus comments dryly. Cumulus laughs politely, one hand over her mouth as she nudges Cirrus lightly with one elbow. The two quickly fall into their own chittering form of Ghoulish as Dew sulks in his seat. 

“I wouldn’t mind taking a dip. Watch my lunch, boss? I don’t trust the imp.” Swiss jerks his chin towards Dew, who only sulks further. Copia nods and waves a hand towards Swiss, taking another swig of his beer. “Aeth, wanna get in on this?”

“May as well, luv.” Aether unbuttons his own gaudily printed shirt as Swiss does the same, and before long the two Ghouls are rushing to beat each other to the water. 

“No claws you two! We have a show tomorrow!” Cumulus calls after them, sighing in exasperation when neither of them acknowledge her. “If they get hurt again, Rain and I are not patching them up. I swear between the boys I go through a pack of gauze a week.” She shakes her head as Cirrus offers her a consoling smile. 

“Do you want your book, dear?” she croons, reaching into the large beach tote that she’s brought with them. Cumulus nods, snuggling into Cirrus’ side as she takes her Kindle from her, opening it and beginning to read quietly. Cirrus turns her attention to the Cardinal as her fingers trail along Cumulus’ arm.

“Cardinal, I’ll give you twenty dollars to toss the bratty one over the railing. Let’s see if his light extinguishes.” Copia barks a sharp laugh before holding up his finger and downing the rest of his beer in one swig. 

“No, no. We need him, girls. Quite frankly, I don’t think we would get much done without him.” Copia pats Dew on the leg with affection before standing and moving towards the cooler for another beer. “I’m going to check on the others, you all enjoy yourselves! You’ve earned it!”

Copia ducks inside of the Captain’s room, clapping a hand on Mountain’s thigh. The view from here is incredible, as the Earth’s horizon is perfectly visible, sloping downward into a majestic arc. For miles upon miles, all the Cardinal can see is the ocean-- no other boats are in sight, and the waves bob and lap at the ship gently, rocking them from side to side with an almost comforting motion. 

“Looks like you’ve anchored us in the perfect spot, Mountain. Thanks for doing this, hey? I think we all needed a nice day before we hit the road again.” Copia claps his hand on Mountains back before ruffling his hair, partially concealed by the mask. Mountain turns and offers him a serene smile before turning back to his book. 

Outside on the deck, Cirrus shrieks as Dew steals her lunch, lunging for him with her claws out before Cumulus quietly tugs her back to her side. Aether hangs off of the side of the boat with his arms, watching the scene with a smile as he wades in the water. He feels a tug on his leg and kicks, frowning slightly. It must be Swiss fucking with him under the water. 

“Hey! Dew! Can you bring me a beer?” he calls out, letting go of the boat with one hand to reach out towards Dew. Dew shoots him some finger guns and moves to the cooler. From behind him he hears a yelp, a splash, and the girls screaming. Copia appears on deck in a hurry, frazzled with his glasses crooked on his nose. 

“What happened?” he shouts. Cumulus points towards where Aether had been clinging to the boat, her eyes wide and chest heaving. Cirrus is standing behind Cumulus with her hands on her shoulders, tail wrapped protectively around her partner. 

Copia rushes over to the edge of the boat and looks down into the water where Aether disappeared. He sees no sign of the Ghoul except for some ripples in the water where he should have been. Acting on instinct, Copia plunges his face into the cold ocean water, coming back up for a burst of air when he sees nothing in the murky depths below. On the other side of the boat, Swiss heaves himself up onto the deck and moves over to the cooler, grabbing a beer and popping it open quickly with his teeth.

“You seen Aeth? He beat me back to the boat. Fucker probably stole my steak, too.” Swiss spits the bottle cap out into a nearby trash can, his eyes finally falling on the other Ghouls huddled on the couches. “The fuck happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost,” he laughs. 

“Aether got pulled under,” Cumulus says quietly, her eyes never leaving the spot where he disappeared. 

“What? Bull shit, he wasn’t that far ahead of me. I would have seen it.” Swiss moves over to the railing himself and looks down into the water, one hand on Copia’s shoulder to keep his balance. True enough, the murky water gives away nothing as the inky blackness remains impenetrable. Even the ripples from the disappeared Ghoul seem to have calmed, leaving the ocean eerily still. 

Just then, something bumps up against the bottom of the boat causing all of them to lurch violently to the side. Cumulus screams and clutches tighter to Cirrus, practically throwing her Kindle back into the bag in her haste to pull her legs up onto the couch. Dews eyes are wild and frantic as he scans the horizon for any other boat in the area, but the ocean remains empty save for them. Copia rushes back to the Captain's room and grabs the radio set up, dialing quickly to reach the shore.

“Come in, come in, this is The Porpoise, we need immediate assistance!” he says loudly into the microphone, spinning the radial dials until he hears a burst of static. 

“Porpoise, receiving you loud and clear, what’s your location?” The answer comes through the speaker with another accompanying burst of static, the voice tinny and hard to hear properly. Mountain reaches over and spins the dial just slightly until the quality comes in better. He takes the microphone from Copia and gives their accurate coordinates in his low, stable tone.

As they’re waiting for the radio operator to dial them back, the boat lurches again and Copia loses his footing, falling back against one of the chairs in the small cabin. He looks to Mountain with wild eyes, who only shrugs and gestures back to the radio. Copia looks towards the back of the boat where his Ghouls are, only to see Aether dragging himself up onto the deck and breathing heavily. 

“Sorry, boss, got dragged under by something!” he calls out, splaying himself onto the deck spread-eagled as Dew and Swiss hover over him nervously. They don’t seem to find any sign of injury, but they remain close. The radio hisses again as the operator comes back through.

“Located you, Porpoise, ETA fifteen minutes.” In response, Dew shouts from the back of the boat,

“In fifteen minutes we’ll all be fucking shark bait!” The boat bumps again, but lighter this time as Copia runs to the railing and looks down into the water. Cumulus screams on her side of the boat as she looks down, a small fin gliding through the water towards them. It disappears beneath the surface with a ripple, leaving the waves to lap against the side of the boat. 

“I saw it!!” she shouts, clapping a hand to her mouth. Swiss moves to her side, one hand on her back as he looks down into the water as well. His face is slightly worried, but he’s very obviously keeping up a front of bravery for her. 

“There’s nothin’ there, doll. It’s alright.” Swiss rubs comforting circles into Cumulus’ shoulder as she whines in fear. Cirrus pats her head quietly before moving off to talk to Copia in a low voice.

“Why isn’t Mountain getting us out of here?” she whispers. “Something is wrong. You contacted shore?” Her tail whips from side to side in barely contained fear, one fang poking out over her lower lip. Copia nods towards her and responds in a whisper.

“Yeah, they gave us a fifteen minute ETA, but I’m not sure that will help if we can’t figure out exactly what’s going-- WOAH!” He points into the water where a small fin has poked through, moving swiftly towards the boat. Swiss moves over quickly, scowling at the water and perching on the side of the boat.

“Enough of this shit. Dew, get ready. We’re gonna have shark for lunch.” Dew hisses in warning, coming to stand behind Swiss with his claws at the ready. As soon as the fin moves close enough to the boat, Swiss plunges his hand into the depths and grabs onto it tightly, grunting and pulling. 

“You got this, dude!” Dew shouts in encouragement, locking his arms around Swiss’ middle and pulling as well. With a loud shout, the thing comes flying out of the water and onto the deck of the boat as Swiss and Dew fall backwards with the release of energy. 

“Oh my God,” Cirrus says flatly, kicking at the thing with her foot. “It’s fucking Rain.” Rain sits up and spits a stream of water out onto the floor of the boat before frowning.

“I was having fun, Swiss, what the Hell?” Rain folds his arms across his chest in anger, scowling at the others as he drips cold ocean water onto the deck, a small puddle forming around his butt.

“Dude you were scaring the shit out of us! The boat kept moving and shit, we thought it was a fucking shark!” Dew stands up, hovering over Rain with an expression of fury firmly on his face.

“You guys felt that? My back itched, and I figured the boat was there, so I may as well. I was just enjoying being in my element for once. I never get to swim anymore,” he pouts. He coughs up another jet of water before getting to his feet and moving over to the cooler. “What’s the harm in some bumps on accident?” he tosses over his shoulder as he takes out a steak and bites into it.

“You pulled me under!” Aether shouts, his hands on his hips and tail whipping from side to side in barely contained anger. 

“What?” Rain turns to look at him fully, stopping mid chew. “I didn’t do anything like that. I was just swimming around and scratched my back on the boat twice.”

“Twice?” Cirrus asks, moving quietly to Cumulus’ side as she starts to tremble. 

The boat lurches again.


End file.
